Drop seat garment



Jan. 25, 1938. .1. H. LE CONEY I DROP SEAT GARMENT Filed Sept. '7, 1935 2 ShetS -Sheet 1.

Jan. 25, 1938. J. H. LE CONEY DROP SEAT GARMENT Fii'ed Sept. 7, 1935 2 Sheets-She et 2 I J'LMPL L15 (arm- Z '4 Mb aw g3;

Patented Jan. 25, 1938 DROP SEAT GARMENT Joseph H. Le Coney, Redford, Mass, assignor to Earnshaw Knitting Company, Newton, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 7, 1%)35, Serial No. 39,587

. 2 Claims. (01. 278) This invention relates to garments and more particularly to a drop seat garment which, although capable of general use, is designed more especially for infants and children.

Heretofore, in garments of this character, where elastic means in the top edge of the drop seat has been employed for holding it in closed position in order to eliminate the use of buttons, the drop seat has generally been attached along its sides to the side seams of the body of the garment. This requires the seat to be made with a considerable amount of fullness to permit it to be dropped without dihiculty of manipulation and without undue stretching and straining of the material which shortens the life of the garment. Such surplus of material creates bulk and, although contributing to ease of manipulation, detracts from the comfort of the wearer.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a garment of the character described in which the drop seat is so constructed as to be close fitting and yet easily manipulated when lowered, thereby assuring the comfort of the wearer at all times.

Another object is the provision of a drop seat which is free of attachment at its side edges to the body of the garment and yet will, when in closed position, fit closely around the hips of the body at those edges.

A further object is the provision of a garment of the foregoing character which is of simplified construction and of comparatively low cost.

Other objects of the invention will be set forth and described hereinafter.

My invention contemplates a drop seat garment in which the drop seat is attached to the front of the garment rather than to the sides and, preferably, is so attached at the ends of its top edge only. This throws the pivot pointsof the swing of the drop seat, when it is lowered, to the front of the garment and materially increases the radius of the swing, so that the necessity for surplus material is eliminated and the seat can be made close fitting to the buttocks of the wearer, yet easily manipulated. The provision of elastic means in the top edge between the two points of attachment will then keep the drop seat in proper position when. closed and Will prevent any sagging of it in the back. The drop seat preferably expands laterally in an upward direction so that the side portions hug closely around the hips of the wearer to prevent gaping of the unattached side edges.

Although my invention is shown in the drawings and described hereinafter as embodied in a garment of the legless type, that is merely for the purpose of illustrating the principle thereof and it is not to be limited to that particular form since it is capable of use in a Wide variety of I garments.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a drop seat undergarment of the legless type, constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a similar of modified form; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a person wearing the garment with the drop seat in lowered position.

Referring to the drawings, the undergarment shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a body portion designated generally'as ill, having a neck garment opening ii, abbreviated sleeves i2, leg openings i3 and a, drop seat i i. The'body portion I0 is preferably made in one piece of cylindrical knitted material, it designating the fore part and Hi,

the rear part. The body portion it) may, if desired,be made of two separate pieces seamed together at the sides or in any other suitable manner. The fore part in theform of garment shown is open in the front, but is adapted to be closed by suitable button holes ill and buttons M in the edges of the two flaps which make up the fore part. The upper edges of the fore and rear parts are out to form theneck opening H, the front part being preferably cut lower than the back part, and the two parts are seamed together at E9 to form shoulder portions. If the bodyportion is made of cylindrical material, the upper por-' 'tions thereof are cut on the sides to form arm openings, in which are secured the abbreviated sleeves i2 by elastic stitching 2t, and said arms,

may be provided with end bands .2 I.

The drop seat is attached at its bottom to the bottom of the fore part to form a crotch portion 22 and the leg openings 53 are formed by cutting out both parts on either side of the crotch portion on curved lines, the edges of whichare finished by suitable binding 23 secured to the two parts by stitching 24. The drop seat expands rapidly in width from the crotch portion upwardly so that its sides will extend around the sides of the body it and over the fore part, with its upper edge extending to points intermediate the center line and the sides of said fore part. The top edge of the seat is provided with elastic means of any suitable form for holding the'drop seat in closed position and said top edge and elastic means are fastened at their-ends only to the fore part of the body portion at the waist line thereof and at two points 25 intermediate the center of the fore part and the side edges thereof.

In the drawings, one form of elastic means is shown comprising a flat band of latex or rubber material 28 mounted in a hem 2'! formed at the upper edge of the drop seat and the two ends only of the hem and the elastic material are fastened at the points 25. Preferably, the elastic stitching 28 which fastens the edge of the hem pierces the band 26 and serves to hold it flat and to prevent it from curlingf The side edges 29 of the drop seat, which, due to its expanded form, converge toward each other in an upward direction on the front of the garment, are preferably free and unattached except at their top ends, Where they are attached to the fore part 15 at the two points of attachment 25, and at their bottom ends, where they are attached at or adjacent the leg openings: I3 at the sides of the garment. The side portions of the drop seat encircle the hips of the wearer and the top edge encircles the sides and back of the wearer at the waist line between the two points of attachment.

The drop seat may be made in one piece, but preferably is made in three pieces, comprising a central section 3B and two side sections 3|, the central section at its bottom having an end approximately V-shaped which is attached to the bottom of the front section by stitching 33 to form the crotch portion 22. In the back, the central section has converging sides to which are secured the upwardly expanding side sections 3| by elastic stitching 34.

For supportingthe points of attachment 25 and transferring any downward strain thereon to the shoulder portionsof the garment, two lines 35 of reinforcement are provided, each of which extends from one of said points to its respective shoulder seam 19. These reinforcements may be of any suitable form, but as shown are lines of nonelastic-or,non-stretchable stitching, which prevent any sagging of the fore part of the garment at the points where the drop seat is attached.

The garment is preferably made of knitted material, with the wales of the material running ,in the directions indicated on the various parts in the drawings by broken lines 36. With the exception of the lower portion of the back part "5, the wales of the body Hlrun longitudinally of the body so that it is stretchable transversely thereof.

.In the lower portion of the back part, however, a ,panel 38 is secured therein by stitching 39 and the wales of thispanel run transversely the body so that it is stretchable in a direction longitudinally of the body, which facilitates a bending posture of the wearer. The lower edge of the back part, including said panel, is concavely curved, the curve approaching a semi-circle and having its two ends terminate at the leg openings on the sides of the body. The back part I6, therefore, terminates above the-crotch portion with its lower portion below the waist line overlapped by the drop seat. This construction prevents the back part from rolling up and holds it in close fitting position on the back of the wearer.

In Figure 3, there is shown a legless undergarment of somewhat similar construction to the garments of Figures 1 and 2, with the exception that it is closed in front and that the two points of attachment 25 of the drop seat to the fore part are closer together and are connected by ,an elastic member which may be of any suitable construction but preferably is of the same conattachment 25, due to the transverse stretchability of the fore part intermediate said points.

For the purpose of illustrating the operation of the drop seat in use, there is shown in Figure 4, in side elevation, a figure of a person wearing an undergarment of the construction shown in Figure 3, with the drop seat in lowered position. It will be observed from this view that the drop seat, by being pivotally attached to the front of the garment, has a much longer radius of swing than a drop seat attached to the opposite sides of the garment and that in lowering the drop seat, it is stretched only to a slight extent in passing overthe buttocks, but is not appreciably stretched when in lowered position. In consequence, there is comparatively little strain on the drop seat when it is lowered and raised, which permits it to be more easily manipulated and, at

the same time, increases the life and durability;

of the garment by the removal of undue strain. Furthermore, the comfort of the wearer is materially increasedby the eliminationof surplus material in the drop seat.

It is to be understood that my invention is not .to be limited to the precise form herein shown and described, since it may be embodied in various other forms within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A garment comprising a cylindrical body portion having front and back parts, a drop seat attached at its bottom edge to the bottom edge shoulder seams of said body portion to said points of attachment for supporting the same and an elastic band connecting said two points of attachment to hold the same in normal relation when said drop seat is closed.

2. A garment comprising a cylindrical legless body portion of knitted material having a front part, a back part terminating above the crotch portion and an-upwardly expanding drop seat, said back part being provided with an inserted panel in its lower portion below the waist line, said front part and the upper portion of said back part being stretchable transversely of said body portion and said panel being stretchable longitudinally said body portion, said drop seat being attached at its bottom to the front part to form a crotch, said front part and said drop seat being cut on curved lines in their bottom side portions for forming leg openings, said drop seat having an elastic band at its top edge and said top edge and said band being attached at their ends only to said front part at the waist line and intermediate the center and sides of said front part, the sides of said drop seat overlapping the sides of said front part and being free and unattached between said points of attachment and said leg openings, said points of attachment serving as pivot points when said drop 

